The Lives of Rocks — Rick Bass

This new collection is big in scope, with a broad range of characters and subjects: the title story concerns a woman recovering from cancer; "Pagans" tells, at forty years' distance, of a girl and two boys--one of whom was in love with her--and the dangerous games they played. In "Her First Elk," a woman looks back on her first elk hunt, three years after her father died, and of the two brothers she hunted with, also now dead. These stories, distinguished by their maturity, are narrated by men and women with compelling life tales. Filled with Bass"s hallmark lean and beautiful prose, they are further proof of his mastery of the short fiction form.